The US box. SEGA CD games came in over-sized cardboard boxes making them difficult to keep in good condition.



The Japanese version came in the usual CD jewel case, and the artwork features the 3 main characters. In the background behind the logo you can see part of the artwork used for the US box.



The PAL version featured the Japanese artwork but with a different background.



The English language version intro has Jessica in her red dress and a couple of slight alterations to her face. In the Japanese version, Haggar's mouth animates when he talks at this point, it doesn't in the US and PAL versions. Likewise, when Damnd appears on the screen a few seconds later, his mouth animates when he laughs in the Japanese version, but it doesn't in the English language versions. Also, when the title screen appears, someone shouts "Final Fight CD" in the Japanese version, this is missing from other versions of the game.



If you wait for a few seconds at the title screen some character bios will appear. The Japanese version has different artwork, information and a different background to the other versions of the game, which basically display the same stuff as the arcade version. Also, the Japanese version has a voice over talking about the character, whilst the US/PAL versions do not. See the full Japanese intro here and the English intro here. Another minor note in the Japanese version, a scrolling image of several Mad Gear punks scroll past, then a shot of Metro City under attack appears, in the US and PAL versions it is the other way round.



Damnd is still Damnd in the Japanese version, but is known as "Thrasher" in other versions of the game.



Sodom's name is also changed to Katana in the English language versions.



Surprisingly, Poison and Roxy are in all versions of the game, but they had their sprites altered a bit to show less skin. Click here to take a closer look.



If you slice someone with the knife or sword in the Japanese version, there is a small squirt of blood. In the American and PAL versions however an explosion effect is used instead.



In stage 3, the sign outside the bar has "BAR" on it in the Japanese version. In the American and European versions of the game, "CLUB" is on it instead.



In the final level there are several statues seen, in the Japanese version the breasts of these are exposed but in the English language versions they are covered up.



If you take a look at the signs in the background, you can see that some of them are different. In the Japanese version, there is one sigh with a beer bottle and what appears to be "WIS" next to it. But in the other versions of the game this was changed to a TV set with what appears to be "WI2" next to it. Thanks to Flying Omelette for spotting this.



She also noticed that there was another change with one of the signs, there is a Capcom sign in the Japanese version but it was changed to "UMEUME" in all other versions of the game and I've got no real reason for why SEGA of America decided to do this. Thanks again FO!



When you have Belger in the Japanese version, his wheelchair is the same as the one in the arcade version. But in the US and PAL versions, it has been edited to have four wheels instead of two and the actual chair looks different.



The Japanese version has a slightly longer ending sequence due to it featuring an extra scene between Guy and Cody which was cut from the English language versions. See the Japanese ending here.


And finally, at the first bonus stage, the Mad Gear thug who walks on says "Oh! My god" in the Japanese version and "Oh! My car" in the US and PAL versions.